Thursday, April 11, 2019

Rafale Fighter Jet Deal: Chronology of Events

Rafale Fighter Jet Deal: Chronology of Events

The Supreme Court Wednesday dismissed preliminary objections raised by the Centre that documents on which it claimed "privilege" cannot be relied upon to re-examine the verdict in the Rafale fighter jet deal

New Delhi: Following is the chronology of events in which the Supreme Court on Wednesday allowed leaked documents to be relied upon by petitioners seeking review of its Rafale judgement and dismissed the government's preliminary objections claiming "privilege" over them:

-Mar 13, 2014: Work Share agreement signed between Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) and Dassault Aviation under which they were responsible for 70 per cent and 30 per cent of the work, respectively, for 108 aircraft.

-Aug 8, 2014: Then defence minister Arun Jaitley tells Parliament that 18 direct 'fly-away' aircraft expected to be delivered in 3-4 years from signing of the contract. Remaining 108 aircraft to be delivered in the next seven years.

-Dec 14: SC says there is no occasion to doubt the decision-making process of the Modi government and dismisses all the petitions seeking direction to the CBI to register an FIR for alleged irregularities in the jet deal.